MILWAUKEE — When you step inside The Washroom nestled in a quiet area of Riverwest, color is the first thing you see.
From a hand-painted green-checkered floor to orange and yellow stripes on the walls to a community chalkboard etched with the words “Live Laugh Love Your Laundry,” it’s unlike the typical drab laundromat. It pays homage to the space’s more than 30-year history.
“It’s very uplifting to be in there,” customer and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Tony Nguyen said.
And that’s the whole point.
Creating a community third space is exactly what 27-year-old owner Kelli Johnson had in mind when she traveled to Europe and saw laundromats that not only offered a space to do your laundry but also a space to gather, complete with cafes and places to work.
“I think in a continuous, lonely world that we’re living in… a laundromat would be the perfect place to connect with other people,” Johnson said.
So after returning from her trip, she set off on her quest to purchase a laundromat. After many “no’s” from owners not looking to sell, she finally got her “yes” — a little laundromat on 2706 N Murray Avenue.
For over three months, Johnson has been transforming the space, but colors are just the start.
Nestled in the back is a little library for people to take and leave books. There’s also a nook near the front for people to work or relax.
Johnson’s even stocked a vending machine with some atypical items like Plan B, condoms and Narcan at steep discounts. Though, there are also sweet treats inside.
“I know where I’m at,” Johnson said. “This is an area with a lot of college students who might need those things for a really cheap amount, so I’m making sure they feel welcome here, and if they only have two bucks or whatever it may be, they can purchase something they may need.”
In the few short months The Washroom has been open, it’s already drawing people in, the way Johnson had hoped. Instead of leaving and coming back when laundry is done, she said people are sticking around.
One customer texted Johnson saying they had a first date there. She’s noticed another that regularly dances through the aisles, moving along to the music that fills the space.
“I’ve seen a lot of college students come in with their bags of clothes. They bring their laptops and study material, they just hang out. That’s the coolest thing to me, that they’re just chit chatting,” Johnson said.
Nguyen, the UWM college student, is one of those customers. He’s been coming to the laundromat since before it became The Washroom, except now, he lets himself linger in the space.
“I’m more inclined to come there, not just because the laundry is cheap, but it’s because while I’m there… now it’s like I can have the initiative to go there and study, especially as a university student or to get things done and feel more welcome there,” he said.
He does that even when he’s not doing laundry. Nguyen said after a final at school, he’s simply gone there for a place to think.
“I never thought that I’d be saying, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go to the laundromat just to be there,’” he said.
He isn’t the only neighborhood regular who feels the sense of community the space is building.
Before finding The Washroom, customer Rachel La Due used to do her laundry in the basement of her four-story walkup.
“There’s one moldy washer and a dryer that takes two cycles to leave your clothes just damp, and so when I do my laundry, it’s a full day event where I probably go up and down the stairs 12 times to do a week’s worth of clothes,” La Due said of her prior laundry situation.
But then she tore her ACL.
”I knew that doing laundry would be pretty much impossible here,” she said.
Remembering a December walk where she saw the colorful laundromat, she decided from now on, she’d go there. So every two weeks, she heads down to The Washroom, with her “laundromat-only” book in tow. It’s become a ritual she cherishes.
“Even if you’re not actively talking to people, it still feels like a community in there,” La Due said.“Even if you’re not actively talking to people, it still feels like a community in there,” La Due said.
When she does talk to others, she’s been able to get some helpful advice.
One evening while La Due was sitting in the laundromat, a couple arrived with their cat on a harness. La Due said she’d been trying to leash-train her own kittens, so she took it as an opportunity to strike up a conversation with the couple and find out how she could do it.
“Doing laundry is kind of a vulnerable thing and also a very lonely thing to do, like holding your socks in front of your neighbors, but I think it’s important and unique,” she said.
The Washroom has done more than provide a sense of belonging for La Due; it’s also influenced her vote in a local election after she saw posters on the wall about a social movement.
“There are aspects of the space itself that Kelli has just done such a thorough and loving job with to incorporate elements of the community,” she said.
La Due said she also feels more purpose behind spending her dollars at the local business.
“If I’m doing it (laundry) here in my apartment complex, the feeling is very much of resent and annoyance,” she said. “I’d much rather use my quarters to support a local business than continue to line the pockets of my landlords.”
Owning the laundromat is not without its challenges for Johnson. It came with old machines, many of which are broken. Though new machines are on the way, she said it’s a difficult bill to foot.
“A lot of laundromats have bigger pockets. They’re either owned by someone who owns other laundromats and they can invest in new machines immediately,” Johnson said. “I don’t have that big of a pocket.”
Despite not having that big of a pocket, Johnson is still finding a way to reach into it and connect with her ultimate mission: to create and foster community.
Her first community event is April 6: a free wash and dry day.
“No questions asked, you come in and wash your clothes,” she explained.
While it’s the first “gathering” event the space will have, Johnson has plans to keep inviting people in. She said she wants artists to add their work to her walls.
“I just want anyone who walks into this space to feel welcomed… especially in trying times,” Johnson said.
La Due said there’s something special about having a space like this in Milwaukee.
“A community gathering doesn’t have to be you sitting on your laptop in a room full of strangers at a coffee shop,” said La Due. “It can be doing something labor-like but next to community members.”
